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Businesses continue to serve Manzanita and the surrounding areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clark Miller Therapy

Clark Miller, a licensed clinical social worker at Manzanita’s Clark Miller Therapy, has implemented telehealth sessions for his clients. It involves interacting with a client over a video/audio connection from a distance, as with Skype, FaceTime and Zoom, for example.

“Like many other behavioral health providers, I’ve started using telehealth to provide sone level of supportive counseling and assistance through the crisis for individuals who are at elevated risk of contracting or spreading the virus,” Miller said.

“It’s easy to use from the patient’s home, and insurance payers are adjusting to cover the session as they would face-to-face sessions.”

If clients want to access a telehealth session, Miller said, he can be messaged through the portal or retrieve a voicemail at 971-324- 0061.

He added that if clients are not having symptoms indicating risk of infection, have not traveled out of the area, have not been exposed and are without other risk factors, sessions are likely to continue face-to-face in Manzanita, with social distancing as prevention.

If a client does have an indication of risk factors, they can set up a telehealth session from their home. All is needed is a good internet connection, and a laptop or other device that provides two-way video and audio.

Miller’s home community is the Nehalem Bay and Wheeler/Manzanita area. He said he started his practice about a year ago and also has been commuting to work full-time four days a week in Forks, Washington.

“I left that position this week to return to this area, again full-time, where I will expand my hours at Clark Miller Therapy and will join a practice group in Astoria – Lagom – seeing patients there Thursdays and Fridays,” Miller said.

Current practice hours in Manzanita are all day Saturday through Monday, and Tuesday mornings. New clients can use the website to schedule a free initial meeting.

As a licensed behavioral health provider, Miller is a member of the Nehalem Bay Emergency Volunteer Corps and Medical Reserve Corps.

Sea Level Bakery + Coffee

On March 19, Cannon Beach’s Sea Level Bakery + Coffee made the decision to temporarily close for regular service. Co-owner Jason Menke said he needed to take a step back and evaluate the best course of action for the staff, community and business.

“We love sharing our space with the community and pride ourselves on doing our best to minimize the use of disposables,” Menke said. “The thought of going to carry-out was, and continues to be, tough to stomach.”

Menke said he began imagining what it might look like to open the doors again in a takeout-only format. He brainstormed with the team about ways to keep the staff and the community safe.

“Friends in our community offered to help,” Menke said. “Cannon Beach local Micah Davis offered to dig in and set up our online ordering system, a key component in our ability to minimize touchpoints.”

Davis, who runs e-commerce for Danner Footwear, updated the entire website, which had not received much tuning since it was created in 2014, Menke said.

Cannon Beach local Jen Yih added fresh photos to the site. “Jen’s a multi-talented freelance marketer, who happens to have a passion for food/beverage photography,” Menke said.

“She was also in a Honda Super Bowl commercial.”

Aided by Cannon Beach’s newly found sleepiness caused by the temporary ban on short-term rentals, Menke said they felt cautiously optimistic about giving the new system a trial run.

Changes to internal operations included no public access to the building, order fulfillment via curbside pickup or at the door with greater than six feet of distance from staff members, reduced hours to limit the number of employees working at any given time, increased handwashing, and increased cleaning and sanitizing.

Customers can order ahead for curbside pickup through sealevelbakery.com/ order, order cashless at the front door with one at a time using the ramp, or call 503- 436-4254 to place an order.

“In a culture gripped by fear, it’s brought such joy to see our team rise to the occasion and find a way forward,” Menke said. “We’re moving forward the best and safest way we know how, while taking the situation seriously. We’re more grateful than ever to be serving our community.”

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